Sign



.lune 24, 1930. J, A, SEARS 1,766,362

SIGN

Filed 0G13. 2, 1928 Patented June 24, 1930 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEJAMES A. SEARS, F LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA SIGN Application led October 2,1928. Serial No. 309,699.

Mv invention relates to signs having one another form of sign embodyingmy invenor more members secured to a suitable backt1on ing or board, andin which letters or other Slnnlar reference characters refer. to slmsigncharacters are interchangeably held and 1111-1 PM'S 111 each 0f theseveral-v1ews. 5 displayed to produce readable indicia. The 1gnllllltratcd 1I 1 Flg. 1 1s conven- 55 It is a purpose of my invention toprovide -lOIlal 1I1 that 1t comprises a board B of in a sign of theabove described character WOQd 0r other Sultable mterlal and 0f any asimple and inexpensive form of member deslred Contour t0 Contrllute t0the Pro' for interchangeably holding the sign charduct'on 0f a Slgn 0fartlstq forma and one acters on the board which is characterized or moremembers M fol: mterchangeably 60 bv a securing means for retaining thememholdmg and dlsplaymg Slg Characters 011 ber in xed position on theboard against the front face 0f the board- The members v M areconstructed of metal with their lonilifiiiia dgrlileciliiigrtetgiixhiiflnligsigf eitue edge itntulrfelto Prende Chnllell 65 tion to theindicia carried bv an adjacent o W 1C C030 o s 1 a y recelve an Oharacters 16 in ed e-to-ed e relation member so that the two Will beheld 1n readsign C g g on the member. Heretofore the members M tovertically on the board Without removal B" Suc-h as by na'lhng therebypreventmg thereof and thus ermittino` an desired respacmg or readyremoval of the members 70 p hb y from the board resultlng 1n the veryhm- Spzlcmg of the member Wlt respect to an ited arrangement of themembers on the adlilcnttlnember' f t, board and hence a correspondinglylimited l f ur, ,er 13111130.36 0, my, uwen lon 1S arrangement of theslgn characters on the the provision of a sign 1n which the securface ofthe board. 75 ing means fof the Sign Charactf Supporting My inventionresides in the provision of member is adJusta-ble to permit lts accomanextremely simple and inexpensive means modation to sign boards ofdifferent thickfor Securing the members to the board in nesses andwidths vvithin certain limits and Such manner that they may be readilyre- 3o St1u-funct10n @Hr/@Wely t0 Secure the mem' moved from the boardto permit of respac- 80 ber Ur fixed PQSltlOU 011 the boarding of theremaining members and an ad- I Wlu descrlle only WO forms 0f Slgnsjustment of the members on the board in embodymg my mventlon. and W1 thePolnt order that they may be more intimately or Out the DOVBl features11] CllllllS. more remotely spaced t() Carry out an in..

In the CCOmpnyiDg ClIaWng tended arrangement of indicia on the face 85Figure 1 is a view showing in perspective of the board. This securingmeans in the one iormof sign embodying my invention; present instancecomprises extensions at the Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on endsof each member M, and which extenthe line 2--2 of Fig. 1; sions are merecontinuations of the body of A1o Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentarysecthe member Without the inturned edges 15. 9o tional view taken on theline 3-3 of Fig. As will be clear from a consideration of 1 showing oneof the securing means for Fig. 4, each extension comprises a strip ofone of the sign character supporting mem-` bendable metal or anequivalent material bers in secured position; which is bent to provide alinear portion 17 Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing and acoiled portion 18. In applying the 95 the securing means in releasedposition; extension to the board, the linear portion 17 Fig. 5 is a Viewsimilar to Fig. 3 shoW- is bent at right angles to the adjacent end ingthe securing means applied to a board of the member M and rearwardly soas to of increased thickness; and lie contiguous to the adjacent edge ofthe Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing board B, all asillustrated in Fig. 3. 1n 1.00

' this the member is fxedly position upon the board.

eoile portion 18 is disposed at the rear side of the board and incontact with such side. In movihg Hic portion 18 to this position, apressure is applied by the fingers in a tangential direction withrespect to the periphery of the portion 18 in order that as 1t moves toits final position at the `rear side ofthe board a slightly furthercoiling is produced. This operates to shorten the portion 17 so that inthe final position of the portion 18 the portion 17 is under tensionwhich, as a natural consequence, results in .the portion 18 coactingwith the member M to firmly clamp the member in xed position upon theboard. It will, therefore, be understood that with the two extensions ofany one member M applied as described, secured in definite When desiringto remove the member M or to readjust the same on the surface of theboard, the extensions can be easily and quickly released by gripping themembers 18 and moving them back to the position shown in Fig. 4, itbeing understood that during this operation the portions 17 are bentoutwardly. Once a new adjustment of: the member has been effected, theextensions can be returned to the position shown in Fig. 3 in which themember is again fixedly secured to the board.

From a consideration of Fig. 5 it should be apparent that where theboard D is of greater or less thickness than that illustrated in Fig. 3,the extensions may be uncoiled or coiled to a greaterl degree torespectively lengthen or shorten the portion 17 and thus permit theapplication of the portions 18 to the rear side of the board as `"wasdescribed in connection with Figs. 3 and 4 in order that they mayfunction to xedly position the member on the board. In Fig.

' 6 I have shown another form of sign having members M for holding asign card C on the face of the board B. By the provision of inturnededges 19 the two members M coact to provide a channel in which the cardC is slidably received. The ends of these members are provided withbendable extensions identical to the extensions of the members M anddetachably securing the members M to the board B, and it will beunderstood that by reason of this securing means the members M can beadjusted vertically on the board to vary their spaced relation in orderto accommodate cards of different heights.

Although lI have herein shown and described only two forms of si nsembodying my invention, it is to be understood that various changes andmodifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit ofthe invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

(position of the linear portion 17 the I claim: l 1. In a sign, a board,a member for supporting sign characters on one side of the board, andextensions on the member formed of a bendable material t`o permitbending of the extensions so as to 11e .conti ous the edges of theboard, and coiled at t eir outer ends to provide enlargements contactingwith the other side of the board to maintain the extensions in bentform.

2. In 'a sign, a board, a member for supporting sign characters ontheboard, and means for removably securing the member to one side of theboard comprising extensions on the member of bendable material and bentat an angle from their point of connection with the member to liecontiguous the edges of the board, the free ends of the extensionshaving enlargements frictionally engaging the other side o the board toretain the extensions in bent form.

Signed at Los Angeles, inthe county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia this 18th day of September, A. D., 1928.

JAMES A. SEARS.

